Spartan U17 Day

Spartan U17 Day

Spartan held a demo/coaching day with UK and PWA star Max Rowe for budding freestylers and people completely new to the scene. It was a huge success and we can’t wait to see more like it…

“With summer getting closer and the water temperature rising it is the perfect time of year to get into windsurfing! With this in mind and knowing that there are lots of children complaining about having nothing to do on our little island of Mersea, Spartan wetsuits decided they would organise a taster day on the beach to encourage the youth.

Being 17 and having grown up and learnt to windsurf on Mersea I have usually sailed with people of my parents’ age. However over the last couple of years the numbers of younger people learning to windsurf has grown on the island. This event had a lot of people and with PWA freestyler Max Rowe on the scene there was plenty of encouragement, motivation and inspiration to go around. It was the perfect idea.

We set up the tent at 11.30ish with big Spartan banners and North and Fanatic flags which could easily be seen from the road and water. Max arrived at 12.00 and rigged up alongside me and a few of the other guys. Before we knew it parents and children of all ages were appearing, either wanting to try windsurfing or just watch. With the wind blowing nicely and a few people already on the water it was time for me to get out there, closely followed by Max. I was just managing to get going on my big slalom kit but there wasn’t quite enough for the freestyle kit. The wind gradually dropped until it was perfect for learning and the sun seemed to appear. Lots of the beginners hit the water and were giving it their all, amazing us all with their enthusiasm and natural ability. With some coaching and encouragement from Mark and John from Spartan, all us other local windsurfers and Max, some of the guys who hadn’t even stepped on a board before were heading off out to sea causing their parents to panic on the beach!

With the sun still out and the afternoon growing old it was time for John to light the barbies! Sausages were cooked and were handed out to everyone on the beach, warming up their cold and tired bodies. While everyone was digging into the hot dogs Max headed out on to the water with a smaller sail on a big Fanatic beginner board and was showing off his light wind freestyle. He was closely followed by Rusty, an ex-professional windsurfer, who attempted to compete against Max with his old school moves, which still are very impressive today.

As the temperature started to drop and black skies came overhead the majority of people packed up and feeling very proud of themselves departed. However having seen forecasts for building wind a few of us held on. Before we knew it a big front of wind came through allowing me to be fully powered on my 8.0 North Warp and Max was able to plane and demonstrate his skill on his 4.7 North ID. We had a really good half hour, it was the perfect end to the perfect!

After getting changed and packing up we headed to The Coast Inn, a pub/restaurant down the road, for a well-earned drink (well in my case a coke) to finish an awesome day!!”

“Having also grown up windsurfing on Mersea Island it was great to go back and see so many keen kids down there getting into it. I know when I learnt the most motivating part of it was having friends of a similar age to share it with. The idea of the day was to hopefully inspire some kids that are already blasting along to keep pushing themselves and to get them trying some freestyle as well. Along with helping out some complete beginners. Big thanks to Mark and John from Spartan for organising the day and hopefully we’ll be doing another one soon.”

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